Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announced on Tuesday that it would suspend operations in the Haitian capital following “violence and intimidation” against its staff by members of the police force.
MSF said in a statement that police repeatedly stopped vehicles and directly threatened staff with death and rape threats.
Christophe Garnier, head of MSF’s mission in Haiti, said: “We are used to working in conditions of extreme insecurity in places like Haiti, but when even law enforcement is directly threatened, we have no choice but to cancel the project.” There is no choice.”
MSF announced that its operations in Port-au-Prince and the adjacent metropolitan area will cease from Wednesday “until further notice”.
Haitian police attack MSF ambulance
This comes after one of the company’s ambulances was attacked last week and two patients were shot dead by Haitian police.
In one recent incident, the NGO said armed plainclothes police threatened to begin executing and burning staff, patients and ambulances starting next week.
“We are one of the few providers who have continued to provide a wide range of health services during this extremely difficult year, so every day we are unable to resume operations is a tragedy,” the NGO said in an online post. .
“But we can no longer continue to operate in an environment where our staff are at risk of being attacked, raped or even murdered.”
Meanwhile, police and civil defense organizations killed 28 suspected gang members in a nighttime operation in Port-au-Prince on Tuesday by burning tires in the street.
Three-quarters of the capital’s medical facilities are closed
Haiti’s capital has been under a state of emergency since March 2024 after gangs overran large parts of the city through violence.
MSF has been in the country for 30 years and is one of the main providers of free medical care in this violence-hit city. We operate multiple trauma and burn clinics.
Just last month, the United Nations estimated that only 24% of the city’s medical facilities remained open.
MSF said five patients already hospitalized and under MSF care will be excluded from the suspension. They also plan to hold mobile clinics and maternal and child health activities in Portapimento in the south.
mk/msh (Reuters, AFP)
